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You’re living in your own private Writaho
(C’mon - where else but OurPDX do you get titles like that?)
Every time the global economy collapses, I always do two things: Stop showering, because what the hell for, and start writing a potentially unfinishable novel, because why the hell not. Well, that and an ancillary task that involves solace in the company of soul food and cooking sherry, to which my various organs will later testify during their brief furlough in a very unlucky donor-recipient’s body.
If you have significant vices that will be taking over your approaching holiday season, why not join the rest of us all-ages spinsters, wafflers, and on-grid/off-grid PDX nere-do-wells (with short attention spans) in a rousing chorus of that Haley Mills classic, “Let’s write together, Yeah Yeah Yeah! This Month Only! No Credit Checks!”
National Novel Writing Month (or, “NaNoWriMo” - say it, don’t spray it) (NaNoWriMo.org) is, “a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.”
Thus, at the stroke of a dark and stoooooormy midnight begins a frenzy of writers using knicker-tickling adjectives and medically questionable uvula exercises (it helps if you make clicking and purring sounds while writing - try it) to express what has, until this moment, been locked away in the dark recesses of their truly fictional minds. (Wait. that came out wrong). The Portland contingent is gathering force in the writing underworld, not unlike a killer scribbling fungus. That uses Twitter.
Need a subject to write about? Need a character? Need a mortgage? No Problem! That is WHY you should join the us. (more…)
Thank you, Doctor M., for your kindness
Writer’s Note: This post is an unapologetic Thank You to one of the many reasonable, giving people of Portland, so be forewarned: if you’re not in the mood for a little end-of-the-week PDX gushing, I suggest moving on to another OurPDX post, preferably without a lot of huffing. If not, brace yourself for a nice, platitudinous story (and yes, I had to look that word up).
“You might feel a little nausea. But don’t worry - that’s normal.” - Health Insurance representative, extension 9452
For the record, I hate going to the doctor. I successfully avoided doctors in my 20’s (because while knowledge might be power, it can also scare the living crap out of you), but by my old and decrepit 30’s it was clear that my pathological medical dodging habit needed to change.
These days, my fear is now less of a “don’t touch me-do I know you?” thing and more about my wallet spontaneously developing an itchy gag reflex, just waiting to spill forth any cash and plastic that it swallowed mere hours before.
In years gone by, my naïve impression of the most common questions at the doctor’s office were, “Is it supposed to look like that?”, or, “Wait - turn it which way? No-yeah-no your right or mine?” Or perhaps, “Those are beautiful Doctor - Where DO you get your grips?”
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WordCamp Portland was Waaaaay better than WordCamp [Insert your lame city here]
WordCamp Portland, was, let’s face it, everything you could ever possibly wish for in a crazy election year while the economy crumbles - and much, much more.
Geoff K summed up WordCamp’s brilliance really well in his article, “What I learned from WordCamp Portland“, but I wanted to add my observations as a first time caller, long time listener of OurPDXNetwork.
My highlights?
As I recall, in the first giveaway there were two dozen unbranded oil-free hybrid cars powered by the collective kinetic energy of a crowd of mad MacBook Air keystrokers and Power User iPhone/Blackberry text messagers. In the hand-stitched organic velvet gift bags, we each received free matching his-and-her HD videocams with a gift certificate for a lifetime personal satellite uplink (and stickers!), a complimentary Herman Miller Aeron chair (and a button!), and a lifetime subscription to pre-edited versions of StrangeLoveLive. And then there was the outdoor fully-immersive multiplayer virtual reality gaming arena, but that was kind of boring unless you’re into that sort of thing.
Which I am.
To be balanced, I felt that the scavenger hunt for handfuls of free hacked iPhones and Japanese-test-market A-I Google devices in the room that was filled with oversized private label Jägermeister Voodoo donut holes was a bit excessive, but I say to each his own.
In other words, if you weren’t there, well, maybe not your strongest move.
You might have thought that staying home and knitting in preparation for winter was the right way to go for a Saturday, but actually…and this is true: There was also full-on needle-on-needle knitting action going on during WordCamp by the master knitters of CubeSpace who so graciously hosted the unbridled chaos that was collectively referred to as Widgets Gone Wild during the BravoTV nationwide simulcast. Would that I were joking.
What I learned at WordCamp PDX, between the lines
1. 8:45 - Changing Lives with WordPress: Fairy Blog mothers do not steal the teeth of WordPress children, unlike their less-fortunate and somewhat embarrassingly dentured Blogger and Typepad childlike counterparts. Move over to WordPress or face the consequences, because nobody likes to have their eyelids superglued shut, now do they hmmm???
2. 9:45 - From Concept to Execution: While some may have thought Betsy Richter (@betsywhim) was reaching out for an intervention to stop an odd menage with Knob Creek and some heavy-lifting WordPress plugins, I think not. She clearly has the Lord on her side, having received from on High what will surely be the 10 commandments for the coming Golden Age of the Blog (GAB™ ®).
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